Table 9 Pools of SOC, N, P and basic cations in soil profiles under beech, mixed and oak forests (means and SD of n plots in the three transects). In the case of SOC and N, total pools are given for organic layer (OLC and OLN) and mineral soil (SOC and STN). For P, total pools in the organic layer and resin-exchangeable pools (P_av) in the mineral soil are given. For the basic cations (Ca, Mg, K), total pools of the organic layer and BaCl₂-exchangeable pools of the mineral soil are given. Pools of SOC, STN an P_av were calculated to a depth − 100 cm, the pools for Ca⁺²_ex, Mg⁺²_ex and K⁺_ex to a depth of − 40 cm. Base saturation (BS) and C/N ratios for the mineral soil were averaged over the three depths 0–10 cm, 10–20 cm and 20–40 cm. No soil samples were taken in the linden forests. Significant differences (p ≤ 0.05) between forest types are indicated by different small letters (Kruskal–Wallis test with post hoc Pairwise Wilcoxon Rank Sum Test). Variables with significant differences are in bold

OLC pool [Mg C ha⁻¹]

2.28 (0.89) a

1.69 (1.78) b

1.84 (0.76) a b

SOC pool [Mg C ha⁻¹]

81.05 (12.47) a

64.78 (18.47) b

64.58 (22.01) a b

OLN pool [kg N ha⁻¹]

84.5 (46.3) a

59.9 (75.0) b

68.9 (36.3) a b

STN pool [Mg N ha⁻¹]

6.58 (1.24) a

5.68 (1.85) a

5.83 (2.19) a

C/N ratio [g g⁻¹]

29.54 (6.46) a

33.19 (6.73) a

28.84 (5.16) a

C/N ratio [g g⁻¹]

11.91 (2.61) a

10.97 (1.92) a

10.06 (1.68) a

P pool [kg P ha⁻¹]

6.22 (3.43) a

3.99 (4.32) a

4.77 (2.54) a

P_av pool [kg P_av ha⁻¹]

137.60 (156.55) a

84.60 (86.75) a

45.09 (51.04) a

Ca pool [kg Ca ha⁻¹]

117.98 (99.80) a

62.83 (54.30) b

77.45 (48.05) a b

Ca _expool [kmol_c Ca⁺² ha⁻¹]

116.98 (73.63) a

121.89 (106.22) a

66.29 (57.21) a

Mg pool [kg Mg ha⁻¹]

25.30 (33.19) a

8.97 (7.72) a

17.29 (15.16) a

Mg _expool [kmol_c Mg⁺² ha⁻¹]

23.15 (13.23) a

30.65 (27.99) a

29.42 (14.17) a

K pool [kg K ha⁻¹]

22.03 (14.82) a

14.59 (10.30) a

23.90 (20.34) a

K _expool [kmol_c K⁺ ha⁻¹]

4.76 (3.62) a

4.48 (2.17) a

4.95 (4.15) a

BS [%]

57.05 (26.98) a

54.46 (25.01) a

46.27 (19.31) a